Aus Open Day 1 - How did post-Ferrero Alcaraz look?

36:11yeah and then we had venus williams i mean who didn't want venus williams to win today like all good and live her family and that's about it but you put extra stakes on it by making her your prediction. I did. You needed this. I had 95 points on the line which is just a brilliant place to be at the end of day one of a slam and I was feeling good about that. I was feeling like I had called this because Venus Williams was up for love in the deciding set having played the most wonderful opening set like brilliant. This was a really good match in the first set and Venus had set points. They were coming and going and finally on her fourth one, it's just this back and forth rally between Venus and Danilevich.

37:08It's like who's going to pull the trigger down the line first because they were both just going big but up the centre of the court and Venus was the one who did it, took the set. The John Kane arena is going mad for her. She has a bit of a lull in the second set. Venus Williams loses it and comes out though and builds that four love lead in the decider and honestly I thought I thought it was done I really thought Venus was going to get this done she was playing so well I think what happened was that she got a bit tense and a bit tentative at four love up and I think credit to Dinovic because she she played really well from that point really He didn't really miss a ball from that point onwards.

37:52And it got to 4-all. And this was the crushing game. Because she just had chance after chance, Venus, to get 5-4 ahead. Stop the run of games against her. And yet every single time she had a game point, she just could not find a first serve. As hard as she was trying, it just would not go in. and Olga Danilovic was taking advantage of the second serve, getting it back to Deuce, and then eventually Danilovic managed to get the break in that game and then serve it out. And in the end, it was six games in a row from her to win the match. And look, it was a very special performance from Venus Williams, even in defeat, you know, 45 years old, playing like that, like absolutely wonderful.

38:43but I was just desperate for her to get the win. Yeah, so that's my tale of three heartbreaking losses. At least you're not Flavio Gabali. Yeah, but we are pleased, Roelga Dnilovic and her family. Sure. Yeah, have had a great day. Yeah, I mean, look, she's, we've said it all before, it remains true it becomes truer every time she plays and is competitive in matches like these but Venus Williams is a marvel I mean that was astonishing it's two and a half hours and she's running around this court smashing winners all over the place at 45 I haven't seen that in in I mean we were talking I can remember Martina Navratilova winning winning a match at that sort of age i can't remember exactly what age um at wimbledon back in what 2004 but this in this era i mean yes we talk about roger federer got to 40 and novak jogovich is 38 and serena williams but i mean venus is five six seven years older than all of these and she's got an autoimmune disease let's not forget it's staggering to me that she this is this is way better tennis than she's played for years as well yeah absolutely and hopefully we will we will get to see her again uh the two-time former champion last year's beaten finalist arena sabalenka uh she opened the Rod Laver Arena night session tonight they've got a new kind of walk on ceremony thing going on it's been created by a sort of theatrical set designer, she's done Lady Gaga set, she's done a lot of very famous work in the theatre and she's created this kind of water sort of parting of the Red Sea type vibe in the in the tunnel and then the players whereas they used to get to the entrance to the court wait there to to each be announced on one after the other they now disappear to separate corners of the court and uh announced on and they they arrive in in via different tunnels and for each of these ceremonies there's one at the start of the day session one at the start of the night session and the roof is closed, and the visual of the roof opening and the light gradually emerging like a spotlight onto the Rod Laver Arena is all part of the show.

41:35And it is that the roof opening and the light shining down like something biblical is really visually spectacular. But is it better than the roof just being open? Open the roofs. Open the roofs. Anyway, Irina Sabalenka comes out in her, it's not a custom Nike kit, but it's a custom colourway of the Nike kit that if you're watching this year's Australian Open, you're going to get very familiar with. I think the women's ones are really cool. I wasn't a huge fan of Carlos Alcaraz's, but relative to Yannick Sinners, he looked splendid. and 6-4, 6-1 for Sabalenka over Sarah Rakitamanga Rajana who I think really showed what she can do tonight, really really did she is a lovely player I really believe in her talent, if she can stay injury free, continue to get physically stronger beef up the serve a little bit obviously in particular the second serve that Irina Sabalenka was predictably all over.

42:50She's got beautiful dexterity, a lovely backhand, but not a weak forehand at all. I think she's got the tools and she showed it tonight. Yeah, she was very impressive in that first set. Sabalenka had to work hard to win that. She was sometimes taking the ball early on return, but a lot of the time she was stepping back and actually hitting with quite a lot of shape and height and giving Sabalenka not much pace. She was getting Sabalenka moving, not giving her the same ball, not giving her rhythm, using a drop shot. You know, she didn't seem intimidated. She was really composed. It was great to see, actually.

43:32But I mentioned the drop shot. It was actually a Sabalenka chasing down a drop shot that changed the whole kind of feel and I guess trajectory of that first set and ultimately the match because she chased down the drop shot Sabalenka and had to whip it from so low and only really had one option and that was to go straight at Rakutamanga and boy did she, like went straight at her head. It was a totally legitimate shot. It was the only shot she had. Matt made a big noise in the working room. Jumped out of his skin a bit. Yeah, like I thought, wow, like that's such a bold shot to hit but it was the perfect shot and it helped to win that point win that game and ultimately the set and the match it was a yeah it was a it was a real moment um and Sabalenka then was was much more comfortable in the in the second set but yeah kind of one of those matches where both of them come out come out you know having kind of impressed I suppose she plays by Jujuan in the next round who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on the Kia Arena this evening you watched a bit of that David?

44:41Yeah only the end it was one of those that was kind of the fourth match going on because at the time we'd got Venus Williams we'd got Carlos Alcraz, Emeril O 'Connor had just started but this match was well into its third hour and was just kind of chugging along and I kind of just thought I'll pick up the result and then next thing I know they're starting a 10-point tie break at the end and then I'm engrossed and it was so dramatic you You know, the battle going on because there were a lot of fans by, Chinese fans in the stadium with flags flying, a lot of noise. She was having chances. She had a couple of match points before she got over the line.

45:22And when she finally did, I mean, just fell flat on her back and roaring, come on. and that was a good win because Pavlyuchenkova still hits such a clean, sweet ball and has real power. It's kind of travelled with her through the generations in a way, whereas some players can get left behind. She hasn't. But Bay stood up to it. She's really tenacious and I suspect Sabalenka's power will be another level altogether. but it's kind of another new name to me really and certainly in terms of somebody I've not watched before and yeah, I enjoyed it. Tricky start for her against Mananchaya Sawankhiau of Thailand who hits a really impressive ball and Radhikhanu was sluggish to start this match.

46:18I imagine nerves were a big, big factor here. You know, she has not had the ideal preparation for this tournament at all. But she, I felt like she was in some proper trouble in the midway point of this first set. She was a breakdown. So Ankiyao looked pretty composed out there. And there was just a flash of panic in Raducanu's eyes. That forehand was looking unsettled. settled and she really dug in and found a game, found a way through. She was hitting lovely backhands by the end of it. I kept on tapping Matt's arm and saying, just checking you've seen this one. And of course he had. He's got a weird radar for when there's a good backhand happening.

47:06He's got Carlos Alcaraz live in front of him and yet he just sort of knows when there's a beautiful backhand down the line happening on a screen in his vicinity. Of course, yeah. It's my sixth sense. Fair dues. Okay, Jasmine Paolini, a winner, one and two, over the apparently not at all tricky Alexander Sasnovich. Not for Jasmine Paolini, anyway. Turns out, I underestimated her. Who would have thought it? Who would have thought it? And her draw has opened up today because I think the next couple of matches we're going to talk about, like they were in her section the seeds that have lost so a doubly good day for paolini she did her job and some other people might have might have helped her out a bit as well yes now the next few matches on the agenda are buckle up folks you've got a wild ride ahead for the next few minutes where would you like to start matt well i'd like to start with elsa giacomo go for it You like her.

48:11I became a bit obsessed with this match. God, it was 24 hours ago that I was confusing her with Kiri and Jacquet. Now Matt's a Giacomo guy. Take it away. She's, in my mind, I'm formulating a take that she's a bit like a far less good WTA Medvedev. You know, like, she's all arms and limbs. she's there's so much limb yeah she wears these shorts that are like diapers it's just she's just all leg and got very long arms she's got funky technique really funky technique she's not afraid of a back and forth with her box like that was a running theme throughout it um and she fights extremely hard you know like these are all sort of things that i would describe medvedev as and And she was bringing them to the court.

49:09And honestly, look, she's up against one of the informed players, Marta Kostiuk, having impressed everyone with her run in Brisbane to the final, where she beat three top ten players in a row. You know, I was very much intrigued by what Kostiuk could do at this tournament. I really thought she was capable of having a run, you know, to the second week. And yet she was not convincing today at all, Kostiuk. She got over the line in the first set, but made hard work of it. and then she went to serve for the match in the second set and played a terrible game and ended up in another tie break and lost it.

49:46And then the third set was just absolutely wild. Like Kostiuk was the better player, really. She was holding serve easily and kept generating break points, but she could not take them. She ended up not taking 17 break points in the match, seven of them in the deciding set. and it just became a bit comical you know like chances were coming and going there were shanks all over the place occasional brilliance but a lot of the opposite and I was just I was just finding it really really funny it was just a good time but then unfortunately with Kostiuk serving to take it into a tie break she rolled her ankle badly took a fall and it was one of those where you thought it was bad in the moment and then you saw the replay and David we're in the in the press room together and everyone wince didn't they when when they saw the replay yeah I mean the in unison several of us just went oh no you know it was just took your breath away and I thought I thought her season could be over with it it was it looked so horrible um fortunately she I mean, clearly not the wind out of her and was a shock, terrible shock, but she got it taped up.

51:09And actually, she performed really well, considering, didn't she, to finish the match, but was unable to win it. Yeah, exactly. So it went to this tiebreak and, look, the tiebreak was messy, to be quite honest, from both players. but in the end Giacomo gets the win and there's a stat here that it's the fifth women's match at a Grand Slam in the Open era to end with three tie breaks you know this was 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 a very rare scoreline only the fifth there have been three in the last five years and then you have to go back to the US Open in 1985 for the first one which sorry Pam was Graf beating Shriver 766776 so Elsa Giacomo in that company today I'm excited to wake up to a message from Pam with her with some crazy memories from that match Carlos Alcaraz is on his way to the main room.

52:21Carlos Alcaraz on his way. It is Yulia Putin-Saver next for Elsa Giacomo. Oh, my word. When is that happening? That's her award. Putin-Saver beat Beatrice Adagmeyer today. 367563. On court six, the bar court. It's also perfect, isn't it? Which did turn out to be perfect scheduling. I mean, it was packed to the brim with Brazilian fans in full voice. I mean, it was just wonderful atmosphere out there. But of course, Julia Putin's savour fuel to her fire. When she won this match, she did a sort of provocative dance, took a bow in the direction of the most vocal Brazilian support and sung Vamos a la Playa at them.

53:14Which is not Portuguese. No. No, it wasn't. But it was... Goodness knows what she was thinking. But, yeah. She didn't care. She took a lot of pleasure in that victory. Yeah. Yes. And upset a lot of people. Yeah. Right in her sweet spot. In a few days' time, and really, like, consequential tennis matches for the actual sort of outcome of this tournament and its latter stages are happening that we might need to report on, Matt will be dedicating his day to Giacomo against Putin's saver. I will. I will. And actually, today wasn't the first time that Giacomo had unexpectedly been sort of match of the day early on at a slam, because, of course, she had that match against Lois Boisson at the French Open last year.

54:08Which I actually do remember, because I'd randomly made Lois Boisson my pick, my prediction for the day. She brought me home some sweet, sweet points. which I can take no credit for because I did. That was a shot in the dark. But I was paying attention to that match as a result because I had something riding on it. And it was... It was wild. God, it was chaotic. Yeah, she is chaotic. Absolutely chaotic. If you want a fun time, honestly. Imagine if she gets in the head of Putin's saver. I am imagining. okay next up let's take you to the 1573 arena and on paper the biggest upset of the day step aside Flavio Caballi the 11th seed crashed out in the women's draw Ekaterina Alexandreva to Zeynep Sonmez the world number 112 from Turkey not necessarily the highest quality match it certainly had its moments Zeynep Somers really had her moments but just the most incredible atmosphere out on 1573 Arena 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 this match Alexandre having led 3-love in the deciding set David you got a whiff of the vibes and came out to watch some of the deciding set And had you not been six foot seven, you wouldn't have been able to see any of it.

55:40It was only because you were able to look over the layers and layers of fans who were not only in the stadium, but queuing to get in. I mean, we know about the Greek fans in Melbourne. We know about the Croatian fans, you know, the Serbian fans. The Turkish fans are so fantastic. they I mean look doesn't necessarily fill my heart with joy to find out that I'm commentating on Ekaterina Alexandreva she's just good luck to her she's just not necessarily my bag but I had so much fun commentating on that match today because those I mean look Zeynep Sonmez is a really cool story and goodness me she's a tenacious tenacious dogged poised tennis player I really enjoyed her tennis but But mostly I just enjoyed her riding this wave of support and seemingly being in dialogue with the fans out there.

56:42They would give her something and then she would give something back to them and they were sort of sustaining one another for the two and a half hours of this match. I think that's the magic of Grand Slam tennis generally. I think particularly this one, this tournament, when a player from a country that maybe hasn't got that many players or is just so passionate generally, they come out in force here. They always have, right back to when Sweden had all those players. Croatia, Marcus Bagdatis, think of him. I remember the Lebanese player last year that I was amongst all of their fans. and yeah I mean this was red and white flags everywhere you you looked in that in that arena and when I arrived it was literally to try to get the last few minutes of it and there were people circling that arena all the way around four or five deep just queuing up to trying to get into to a to a stadium that was full but they're not getting in right so they were just craning the next trying to look around the corner see see if they could watch what's going on well i'll tell you what you could hear what was going on um and that's part of the beauty of week one of this tournament and um yeah i i i feel a bit for alexandreva because i end up hoping that she would lose that match because i want more of that atmosphere yeah and look she's tough alexandreva She doesn't give you much to get your teeth into in terms of really kind of feeling for her or willing her on because she just looks so, she's a real moper.

58:27And I know, you know, what you're portraying outwardly can so often not be a reflection of what's going on inside. I really do know that. But it is tough when you're watching somebody and she's just so quick to be dejected. There were periods of this match where she'd suddenly hit her stride and, OK, she's middling the ball. She's the 11th seed against the world number 112. And you're like, right, you found it now. All you need to do is not just drop off a cliff. And she'd miss one and she just slumps and disappeared for several games. She's so streaky. Never dials it in, does she? She's still going after shots when maybe she's not in form.

59:14Yeah, and in a very kind of what certainly appears from the outside to be a kind of patternless way. It doesn't look like there's an awful lot of thought behind it. It's just, it looks like ball bashing. Yeah, she's thrashing the ball around. Yeah. And if she's having a good day, it's irresistible. If she's not, it's an unforced air of fest. It was hot out there, wasn't it? It was apparently, I don't know how or why, but 1573 is the hottest court at Melbourne Park. And it's one of the least sheltered as well, gets quite a lot of breeze. Like conditions are, I've commentated a few matches over there and conditions always seem to be a big topic of discussion.

59:59I've also shepherded Katerina Alexandrovich out of this tournament in round one now for three consecutive years. Goodness me. to Laura Siegmund two years ago. In three hours of my life, I'm never getting back. Last year to Emma Raducanu and this year to Zeynep Sonmez. But it was a joy. I really loved it. And Sonmez is cool. I don't know how far she can go, but she's being mentored by Hans-Jabur a little bit. Well, Jabur's on maternity leave and Jabur's lent her her coach for a little while. So it'd be fun to see what she can do. and she's a real trailblazer in Turkish tennis, which is cool. Alina Svitolina, a winner today comfortably over Christina Bookcher, 6-4, 6-1.

1:00:49Hayley Baptiste, also a winner, not though over Marketa Vondroshova. Vondroshova pulled out this morning with the shoulder injury that she's been plagued by for so long. just such a bummer to get the news that Vondroshova was pulling out of the tournament that she's you know she's still struggling with this that we wouldn't be getting Baptiste against Vondroshova which was a match we'd all circle to pay close attention to today we ended up getting Townsend Baptiste which was also fun and Baptiste winning through in three sets okay that is it for part two but don't go anywhere folks part three is a look ahead to tomorrow and crucially our sensation of the day segment welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast where it is of course the long-awaited return of sensation of the day and today's very easy i think i mean oh it's a slam dunk i yeah it's got to be a slam dunk hasn't it there was a period of about four and half minutes where Adam Walton tried to make it a conversation but I'm afraid one break of the Carlos Alcaraz serve does not a sensation of the day make.

1:02:06When you've got someone who's won a full tennis match. Exactly. You know I think I think if you were putting up against winning a full tennis match versus taking a set of Carlos Alcaraz taking two sets of Carlos Alcaraz then we can have of a conversation but a little flurry in the middle of the second set sorry Adam Walton as well as you served as well as you played you're not sensation of the day no sensation of the day is Talia Gibson she beat Anna Blinkover and apparently she was awesome now I wouldn't exactly know because there was a lot going on and I I didn't I didn't think to pay huge attention to Talia Gibson, but luckily we have a correspondent.

1:02:54We do. Teach Trez, who is out here in Melbourne, was watching the Channel 9 coverage. Had no choice. They had Gibson on, so that's what he was watching. He said he was a bit sceptical. But ended up loving it. Described her as playing fearless tennis. And she, in her press conference, compared herself game-style-wise to the likes of Savalenka and Rabatkinner. Whoa! In terms of big hitting, liking to be aggressive. She wasn't saying she was as good as them, but that's her aim, you know, to play a bit like them. And it sounds like she absolutely did that. Front foot tennis against Blinkova. Got a bit tight in the second set.

1:03:38It was a very convincing lead she had. Got pegged back, but managed to win it. Yeah. Congrats on your big sensation of the day title. You know, I saw today the radio reporter that first called an Australian player a sensation. Oh, God. Today. Who was the original sensation again? John Millman. Right. Of course it was. I see him around too, and I give him such a fond smile, and he must think, I'm so odd.

1:04:19it's meant with nothing but love i i promise you that yeah talia gibson the only australian winner on day one and look that they it was interesting the scheduling today because she wasn't necessarily favorite to beat anna blinkover and none of those australian none of the four australians scheduled today really would necessarily been expected to win like i mean it's interesting they didn't think right let's let's get this australian charge going strong on on day one but obviously they've got alex de minore tomorrow they've got emerson jones a vogue sensation a vogue designated would alex de minore be allowed to be a sensation no he's look we've discussed this before would you have to win the australian over the problem is alex de minore is not a sensation no he's not Because he's not ironic in any way.

1:05:09He's too good. He's too good. Yeah. But it's going to get to the point where he's the only... Look, cross that bridge when we come to it. Yeah, maybe a sensation is going to have a sensational run. Absolutely, that's the point. I hope so. That'd be fun. So fun. Yeah. Right, tomorrow, folks, the Day 2 order of play has been out for ages. They released it very early, didn't they? Rod Laver Arena is opened by Coco Gough tomorrow. She ticks on Camilla Rakimova, one of the formerly Russian players, now representing Uzbekistan. Second on Rod Laver Arena, Mackenzie McDonald. Now, this isn't the name we were expecting here.

1:05:52It was supposed to be Matteo Berrettini taking on not sensational Alex de Minot. We had the news yesterday that Matteo Berrettini has had to withdraw. the curse continues just so sad for Berrettini, it does mean that McKenzie McDonald comes in as a lucky loser. And it probably means a bit of a sigh of relief for Alex de Manor, quite frankly. Yeah, there's less threat on paper considerably against McDonald, who's a very good player, but he just doesn't carry the firepower that Berrettini does. And yeah, as sad as I am for Berrettini, I'm equally sad for myself because my fantasy team has now lost Vondrosova and Berrettini and neither one of those things could have been predicted.

1:06:43Can't predict diarrhea either, David. The night sessions tomorrow, the two night sessions on the two main courts, both have the women's matches up first, followed by the men's. You love to see it. On Rod Laver Arena, it's Yuan Yui, the qualifier, the Chinese qualifier, taking on Iger Svjantek and that is followed by Pedro Martinez of One Point Slam fame taking on Novak Djokovic, the fourth seed and 10-time champion. Second court tomorrow starts with Daniel Medvedev. I wonder if he asked to be first on just to prevent getting into any kind of sort of stuck in a late-night rut cycle. Because that happened last year, didn't it?

1:07:25His first match, no, two years ago, his first match finished at... Yeah, against Roussevori. at two o 'clock in the morning. And then it was unfair to schedule him in the day session from that point onwards because it would be diminishing his recovery time. So he just got stuck in this nightmare of late finishes. That's the one that got you, isn't it? The Roussevori match. That's the one that made Matt kick off with that rant. Yeah, the picture of a broken sport. No, no, no. No, that was Medvedev last year. That was Medvedev last year against TN. Two years ago. Two years ago was this tournament.

1:08:00called Wimbledon. It's always Medvedev. Yeah. Well, he's got Jesper de Jong tomorrow, so who knows what's coming from Matt Roberts. Following that, big day for Matt Roberts on the second court tomorrow. Simona Voltert from Switzerland is the first round opponent of Amanda Anisimova. In the night session on the second court, we open with Donna Vekic against Mira Andrava. And second on, it's Matea Belucci. Matea Belucci. almost said Monica, against Caspar Rude. They're booby-trapping me because they only put the initial on the order of play. M. Bellucci is a stitch-up. Irresponsible. Yeah, thank you.

1:08:43It's M. Bellucci against Caspar Rude. The John Kane Arena tomorrow starts with Nuno Borges against Felix Auger-Eliassime. Then it's Jessica Pagula against Anastasia Zakarova. I think I'm going to be commentating that match. The Twilight. She has a funky serve, Zakharov. Yes, she does, doesn't she? OK, now I want to watch this because I haven't seen that. The night session, the twilight session on John Kane is Yulia Starobd-Sever, the Ukrainian qualifier, taking on Isla Tomljanovic, making a play for Sensation of the Day and then also making the same play, Alexey Popperin against Alexander Muller, last on John Kane.

1:09:27That's going to be long. Yes, Kia Arena tomorrow Storm Hunter The qualifier Taking on Jessica Boutas and Monero She's had a great start to the season Was brilliant at the United Cup That win over Coco Goff Of course, but she's taking on a sensation Good match that I think so Mateo Arnaldi against Andre Rublev Second on, Laszlo Gerrard Against Stan Marenka Playing his final Australian Open That one's on the Kia Arena which I think should be fun, atmos-wise. And then finally, Barbora Krejcikova against Deanna Schneider. Very good match. 1573 tomorrow is where you'll find Emi Navarro, Jordan Thompson.

1:10:13They haven't put him on the bar court. No, hang on. I get these things confused. It was the Sitza bros that complained about the bar court, and it was Jordan Thompson that complained about the people moving during points being too woke. Is that right? That is exactly right. As ludicrous as that sounds, that is exactly right. Yeah.

1:10:39Well, he's second on 1573 tomorrow. Third on 1573 is Emerson Jones against Victoria Mboko. Yes, please. Actually, now I look through the schedule, it's a huge day for sensations. Oh, they're everywhere. I think we're going to have to reserve quite a big segment of the show tomorrow for debate about sensation of the day. I'll bear that in mind. We've got Kenan against Stearns on the ANZ arena. Priscilla Hon against Marina Stakusic. Alexander Vukic. Okay, it's sensation central tomorrow. Absolutely jam-packed with sensations. Today we were grasping around. it's a soft launch today now I look through the schedule it really was a soft launch today but look we found stuff to talk about Elsa Giacomo thank you very much it has been a fun day but I am looking forward to tomorrow we have Gus our mascot we're resplendent in orange today like Maria Zachary she won the first match on the second court today hit a round the net post winner Oh, that was an astonishing shot.

1:11:52Sort of forehand slice. Knifed with right to left bend that just clipped the sidelines. Unbelievable. Yeah, shot of the day for sure. And Gus is channeling Zachary in that orange outfit today. So that's brilliant stuff, Gus. You're meeting the moment like any good Grand Slam mascot should. We have Bodie and Maisie and Roger, our mascots, of course. hello to you hello Bodhi hope you're enjoying your first slam as my mascot hello to Greg Chris and Jeff our executive producers uh Matt should we have some shout outs we have Caroline from South Buckinghamshire hello Caroline Caroline who says that she loves listening but is still missing Rafa?

1:12:43Lots of people we get that quite a lot don't we? Yeah that generation of players it takes a little while. People I think do bounce back and find somebody else to like but it's a tough absence. Yeah if you've been really I don't think I've ever been through something like that being so attached to a particular player just because we view the sport differently but I can imagine that is hard to just sort of move on and find somebody else. But it will happen eventually, Caroline. Time heals. Like Caroline Dollarhyde. Yes. I've got a memory of David once going quite big on Caroline Dollarhyde. Really?

1:13:32That's not fair. I feel like you had a Cameron Norrie moment where you watched her... Hit a ball hard and thought, oh. that does sound possible did she beat Danielle Collins at the US Open quite possibly did you watch it and think she was good and talk about that on the podcast I don't exactly know I've said a lot of nonsense over the course of time I think that might have happened there you go Caroline Dollarhyde who's next Matt Chelsea Giller hello Chelsea from Washington DC Nice. And Chelsea says, I got my boyfriend into tennis this year, largely with the help of the podcast. We went to the French Open together and he made me a picture frame board with open frames for the other three majors.

1:14:23Can't wait to fill it out over the years. That's so cool. That really is cool. Oh, Chelsea like... The football club. Chelsea's definitely had that before, though, hasn't she any tennis well i'm gonna mention dominic team who's famously a die-hard chelsea fan isn't he inexplicably kind of everything can you couldn't have said it better yeah chelsea that's lovely thank you very much and finally we have anna from california hello anna anna says like most listeners i love listening to the pod while i walk my dog thanks for keeping us company I've played tennis all my life but never been to a professional match in person where should I start?

1:15:18well there's plenty of options in California to choose from so maybe start local and expand out from there like Anna Bondar yes or Anna Ivanovich Anna Kalinskaya yeah there's plenty Anna Chakvitadzi from the tennis world. I thought of Anna Check for Tadsy the other day.

1:15:43Why?

1:15:48Because I was asked for an Anna, a tennis Anna, and that's what came to my mind as well. Okay. It's a pretty legitimate answer. Anna, Chelsea and Caroline Caroline, thank you very much. Caroline Dollehy did play Daniel Collins at the US Open when we thought that was Daniel Collins' final US Open. That's why I remember it. Your involvement in it is still TBC. We'll work on it. I might have made that up. Anyway, Caroline, Chelsea, Anna, thank you ever so much. We consider yourselves shouted out. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. This has been day one of the Australian Open. We're going to walk home now while Jib in the Philippines edits the show.

1:16:38Big day for Jib tomorrow. Alexandre Ayala in action. We love Jib. We wish him well with the edit. And we wish Alexandre Ayala well with bringing joy to Jib's life. Thank you for listening. We will speak to you tomorrow on day two, the Australian Open.